Helping Democracies Deliver: Creating Dialogue and Change Through Open Government

Frontiers in Development - June 11, 2012

Moderator: Donald Steinberg, Deputy Administrator, USAID
Amirzai Sangin, Minister of Communication and Information Technology of Afghanistan
Rakesh Rajani, Head and Founder of Twaweza
Warren Krafchik, Senior Vice President of International Programs at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

A movement for open government is growing around the world. An explosion of new technologies and innovative platforms now allows governments and citizens to engage in real-time dialogue to improve the performance and processes of public institutions. This movement has particular relevance for new democracies; the pressure to effectively govern in a fragile democracy is particularly intense in the post-transition environment. So how are new democracies advancing open government? And how are innovations and the movement contributing concretely to greater transparency and accountability? How do these and other approaches actually help new democracies deliver to their citizens?